A/N: I apologize for the long wait for this update, I've used all my spare time to type this out. Unfortunately, my spare time meant I got in about five minutes a day, if I was lucky. Once again, read, review, and all that jazz! And hooray! You guys did it, we finally passed the 10,000 views mark! Thank you to everyone who's read so far. Please enjoy chapter 21!
Chapter 21
Five
Message Sent. All that was left to do was wait. They didn't have to linger long, the glowing incoming communication indicator pulsing with a soft light almost as soon as the note had been sent.
Her two deft fingers played lightly across the glowing surface of her omnitool, flawlessly navigating the mess of menus and icons displayed on the small screen. In a matter of seconds, a Turian face appeared on the display. After a few more taps, the image was projected above the instrument, illuminated by a gentle stream of light.
"Shepard, Tali, I have to say this is a pleasant surprise," said the Turian in the hologram. "I thought we were going to have to rescue you yet again."
"Garrus, you know I'm the one whose job it is to pull you all from the fire. And I have to say, I haven't been disappointed on that front so far." Shepard turned and winked at Tali. "You guys seem to have a penchant for getting into trouble."
"We were doing fine before you decided to rejoin us," Garrus smirked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything. I'd hate for you to go and kill yourself out of guilt to the countless tribulations you've brought crashing down on our heads."
"Believe me, if I'm planning on killing anyone right now, it sure as hell isn't myself."
"No need to get nasty, just making an observation," Garrus said, hands raised in mock submission. "But it is really good to see you and Tali without a pair of handcuffs. I could have sworn I saw C-Sec take you away from the hospital in a couple stasis modules."
"That you did, we just got bored in captivity, so we asked politely and all was forgiven."
"Oh if only life really were that easy," Garrus sighed, shaking his head slightly.
"Yes indeed," Tali agreed. "Where are Mordin and Miranda?" she asked suddenly, noticing their extended absence from the conversation.
"We split up."
"Wouldn't you know exactly where we were being held? You did work here for years before you decided to come with us," Tali said, perplexed.
"We didn't do it to find you guys; we did it because of the murder charges. If they catch one of us they don't necessarily get all of us. If we're going to be caught, might as well make it a pain in the ass for them."
"That's the spirit!" Shepard said mockingly. "Now, Garrus, stay where you are, we're going to come meet you. Try to stay unobtrusive, although if you feel the burning desire to start shooting something, I won't stop you. Just don't get caught."
"Thanks for loosening the leash, Master," Garrus responded. "By the way, I haven't told you were I am. Probably best to leave it that way, on the off chance somebody's listening in."
"You don't have to tell us for Tali and I to be able to see where you're standing. People may be listening, but they don't have access to the vid screen. If you can, ask Mordin and Miranda to hold up. It certainly would make tracking them down easier, too."
"Can do, Shepard. Just don't take too long, you know how I sometimes do things I later regret when I get bored."
"Like I said, if you need to break something, just do it quietly. I'm fine as long as you don't start red sand."
"I worked C-Sec for several years; I've seen what that stuff does to people. I don't think I'm in any danger."
"See you in a few."
Shepard cut the connection, turning to face Tali. He lowered his voice so only she could hear. "He's on Zakera Ward, pretty close to where we found that Quarian and the Volus arguing about his credit chit a few years ago."
"I wonder what happened to her?" Tali wondered aloud.
"I don't know, but now isn't the time to be getting sentimental."
"Do I have to wait for this dinner on Illium to ask any questions?" she asked jokingly.
"I'd say yes, but I find it next to impossible that we'll even make it to Zakera before you start asking more questions." He smiled down at her, and she returned the glance in kind, the gesture no longer wasted, no longer hidden behind a cold shell. Her eyes gleamed with a pale luminescence, his eyes gently running across the gentle contours of her face.
"Come on, let's go pick up Garrus," Tali urged, breaking the peaceful silence. "You know we can't leave him on his own for too long."
He reluctantly nodded, allowing her to lead the way down the twisting corridors. They paused at each turn, looking anxiously down the deserted halls, wary of running into any of the C-Sec officers sure to be making their rounds along the Wards. It didn't do much anymore, crime so rampant among the few who still couldn't afford passage on a ship off the station, that whenever one person was arrested, three more would take his place. The officers had grown complacent, overlooking all but the most significant offences. The suspected murder of a Councilor surely placed them under the "significant offences" category. Shepard could always try to bluff his way through a confrontation, as he had before, but it was better for everyone involved if they could stay out of sight and mind for as long as possible. No one believed he was doing anything other than questioning her; as far as either of them knew, they hadn't even taken a full ID scan on the Quarian. Nothing to indicate their past history, certainly.
They rounded a bend, but stopped as a small party of Turians drunkenly stumbled over to where they stood, perplexed. The other group pulled up short, a single individual stepping forward, seemingly the only sober one in the bunch, the ringleader. He brushed past Tali, seeming to take no notice of her as she stumbled to the side, surprised at the sudden, forceful contact. He paused in front of Shepard, glaringly angrily at the human, each staring the other down intently.
"Can I help you? If not, you might want to step aside. I'm not known for extraordinary patience, and I'm in a bit of a hurry here," Shepard said, keeping his voice level.
"You humans are always in a damn hurry. In a hurry to get an embassy, in a hurry to get a Spectre, in a hurry to get a Council seat, in a hurry to get all of us other species out of your way."
"Do you have a problem with me?" Shepard asked, stepping forward menacingly. The Turian regarded the movement, eyes appraising the armor, the weapons.
"I have a problem with all of you humans. Things have always been bad around here ever since humans took us over. It's only gotten worse since that one Councilor got shot. We were about to get back into politics, we were going to have a voice again. Now we're stuck here, can't even pay our way off this hell, and that one Councilor left has the nerve to retract the offer for another Council seat."
"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?"
"I don't expect you to do anything. I've long since given up on any of you to try to do anything about it. You humans don't seem to care what the other species go through as long as you're on top of the heap. You've been here for 30 years, if that, and already you seem to think you should be in charge of the other species here, the ones who've known about the Citadel for thousands of years."
"He doesn't have any problem with other species," Tali suddenly spoke up, stepping angrily forward from against the wall. "Do you have any idea what he's done for you?"
"How the hell could I? I don't know who he is. You, on the other hand, look slightly familiar," the Turian trailed off, cocking his head to the side, trying to place where he had seen your face before. Suddenly, realization struck him. "Wait a minute, you're that Quarian who killed Anderson! It's your fault we're being subjugated by those human bastards," he shouted, gesturing wildly in Shepard's direction to emphasize his words. He then surged forward and pinned her against the wall, shoulder jostling painfully as it made contact with the hard surface. His action was met with a strong punch across the jaw that sent him sprawling to the floor, grimacing as he clutched at the bruise that had already begun to form. One of the Turians who lingered further back in the alley clumsily stumbled forward, meaning to defend his comrade who struggled to his feet, but pitched drunkenly forward instead, falling comically on his face on the filthy floor.
"Are you okay?" Shepard asked Tali as she gingerly rolled her shoulder in gentle circles, trying to work out the pain from the sudden, forceful collision. She nodded, the grimace clear on her face. He caught her up in a quick embrace, then turned furiously towards the Turian who once again stood on his feet, murderous rage slowly fading as the pain gradually wore off. Shepard stalked forward menacingly, pushing the Turian roughly in the chest, so that he stumbled backward several steps before regaining his balance. "If I ever hear you accusing her of anything like that again, I swear to God I will personally tear your throat out. Try saying anything after that happens."
"Shepard, just forget about it," Tali called anxiously. "We have to find Garrus!"
"Garrus? Garrus Vakarian?" the Turian suddenly said, clearly surprised.
"Name mean anything to you?" Shepard asked, suddenly suspicious.
"Of course!" the alien exclaimed, demeanor relaxing slightly. "I worked with him in C-Sec for a year or two. We weren't exactly close friends, but we went out for a drink a couple of times. What do you want with him?" he asked eyes narrowing. "Planning on killing him like you did Anderson? Going to try to make things even worse for us?"
"Look at the security footage again. He's another one of the accused. Maybe that'll change your mind about my friend's innocence," Shepard said accusingly, voice softly threatening.
"No, that can't have been him," the Turian said, suddenly sounding hesitant, unsure. "That just looked like him, the picture wasn't exactly high resolution."
"It was him, check it again. Have you ever considered that maybe somebody set them up? Things like that have happened before. Surely you've seen your fair sure of wrongly convicted people in your time at C-Sec."
"I did," he reluctantly admitted. "More than I'd like to admit, actually. We weren't perfect."
"Good, in that case, we're going to go, and I'm going to personally help them clear their names, hopefully catch the bastard responsible for this in the first place."
"Well, in that case, good luck," the Turian said hesitantly, still not completely convinced, but stepping aside nonetheless.
Garrus hid in the shadows, visible only to the most observant of passersby, waiting unobtrusively in a corner of the Wards as his eyes scanned the crowd for a familiar face. After an agonizing eternity of waiting, he finally saw who he was looking for. He hurried across the open space towards Shepard and Tali, head bowed, marking hidden from the security cameras. He fluidly spun his momentum to meet up with them, now walking beside them. "It's about time you got here," he muttered. "I was starting to get worried."
"You should know by now that Adam wouldn't be Adam unless he was fashionably late," Tali responded.
"Yes, well, Adam," Garrus said, stressing the Commander's name mockingly, "sometimes it's better to try and be on time."
"In my defense, we were held up in an alley back there by a few Turians. One of them said he worked with you in C-Sec," Shepard replied conversationally.
"Huh, I would have thought all the former C-Sec officers would have cleared out by now," Garrus thought aloud.
"He said he couldn't afford a ticket off the Citadel," Tali added.
"Really? The job never made anyone rich, but in my time we definitely made enough to buy boarding on a flight, especially with prices were they are now."
"You think he was lying?" Shepard asked.
"It's possible, but now that I think about it, not likely. Ever since the human council, Turians have grown less and less influential. From what I've seen on the news recently, they've actually been completely replaced aside from a couple dozen high ranking officers who would be more trouble than they're worth to replace. If Turian salaries dropped along with their standing, that would explain things much better."
"I thought Anderson was working with the other Councilors to put aliens back on the Council, though," Tali said, puzzled. "I thought the other Councilor who was still alive was with Anderson on that. Why couldn't they have reinstated Turian C-Sec positions?"
"For some reason, the other Councilor has rescinded the offer," Garrus said, a note of anger finding its way into his voice.
"That's what that other Turian said," Shepard interjected. "I still don't understand it, though. From what I heard before I died again," he said, Tali cringing slightly at the mention of his death, "that Kuznetsov guy sided with Anderson on most issues."
As they walked forward, Garrus lead the way towards where he had seen Miranda and Mordin in the vid messages. Soon, the other two had been reunited with the group, and finally together again, they began to walk for the docks, the temporary pilot they had hired from Proteus waiting for their arrival. On the way, Tali's omnitool began to flash, an incoming message received. Coming to a stop, the other gradually slowing as she called out to them, she opened the message. She hadn't recognized the signature of the caller, but her questions were soon answered as the image of a Drell appeared on the small screen.
"Kolyat?" she said quietly. The figure nodded, then began to speak.
"Tali, right? I need to talk to you, and the others who were with you when my father entered the afterlife."
"How did you get this signature?" Tali asked curiously.
"I found it in my father's list of needed contacts. I recognized your name, and I needed to speak with you."
"You went through Thane's possessions after he died?" Tali questioned incredulously.
"I didn't want to, but it was urgent I speak with someone. My father's death was more than an accident."
Garrus had reached her side by this statement, had he stopped suddenly, wondering if he had heard the message correctly.
"Did you say Thane's death was more than just Kepral's?" he inquired.
"The Kepral's was what killed him in the end, but I did some research with certain access codes I obtained in my short time as an assassin. The Hanar had a cure developed, they were about to put it into the final testing phases several weeks before he died, but the tests were sabotaged. Someone destroyed the research and killed the scientists who had information on the antidote's composition."
Tali turned to face Garrus, eyes widening in shock. "Keelah, do you think someone was trying to stop Thane from receiving the cure?"
"I don't know, maybe someone had a vendetta or something," Garrus said uncertainly.
"Garrus, think about it. Someone has been killing people who worked with Shepard. If they went around killing everyone with guns, that would be even more conspicuous. If they had the opportunity to make the death seem accidental or inevitable, don't you think they would take it?"
The other three quickly joined the small group huddled around the light of the omnitool as Kolyat once again recounted the story for the new arrivals. Miranda quickly came to the same conclusion as Tali, Mordin agreeing to the logic behind such a method of attack.
"Five of us killed," Miranda breathed quietly. The sudden revelation cast the other deaths once again in sharp focus, the situation seeming more dire by the second.
"Kolyat, we need to speak with you in person," Shepard spoke over the connection. The young Drell nodded his assent. "Could you meet us on Illium? I'll disclose further information once we're there, that'll give us time to set up a more secure connection. If you have enough credits, we can repay the cost when you arrive." Kolyat nodded once more, then closed the connection.
"We need to get to Illium now," Shepard said. "We have to see Liara anyway, maybe she could help us further."
The other four nodded. The group proceeded towards the Atlantic in silence, each reflecting on the implications of what they had just been told.